WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cornerstone Government Affairs is proud to announce that former Illinois Assistant Majority Leader Kelly Burke has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant, effective May 19. With over a decade of experience as a state representative, she brings a wealth of legal and academic expertise to Cornerstone’s Illinois State Government Relations team.
Most recently, Burke concluded her tenure with the Illinois General Assembly, where she served from 2011 to 2025. Prior to that, she practiced family, municipal and insurance defense law. She previously held a staff role at Saint Xavier University in Chicago and served as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University School of Law from 2016 to 2021.
“During my time in the legislature, I was able to interact with Cornerstone’s well-respected Illinois team and see their collaborative approach to addressing client issues, as well as their outstanding impact during the legislative process,” said Burke. “I’m thrilled to join Cornerstone’s talented team, and utilize my own experience and expertise to support clients across the state.”
During Burke’s time in the Illinois General Assembly, she held the position of Assistant Majority Leader under both Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and former Speaker Michael Madigan. She chaired the House Revenue and Finance Committee as well as the Higher Education Appropriations Committee and served as a member of the House Budget Working Group and the Legislative Ethics Commission.
Her legislative work has focused extensively on higher education, health care and pension reform, with landmark efforts in areas such as ethics, telecommunications and family law.
Burke is also a founding member of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus. She was named a 2012 Edgar Fellow, a prestigious leadership program led by former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar that brings together leaders from across the state and political spectrum to address Illinois’s most pressing challenges.
“We are excited and very fortunate to add Kelly to the team,” firm President Campbell Kaufman said. “Her knowledge of the legislative process and her extensive relationships in the House and Senate will be invaluable for current and future clients.”
In addition to her longstanding dedication to residents across Illinois, Burke serves her community as Mayor of Evergreen Park, a village of 20,000 residents outside Chicago. Before becoming Mayor, she acted as a village trustee and a library board trustee. Additionally, she serves as the State Central Committeewoman for the 6th Congressional District for the Democratic Party of Illinois and was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Burke received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.
About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc. is a bipartisan, employee-owned public affairs firm with more than 200 professionals in offices across the country. Through its federal and state government relations; strategic communications; political action committees; grant consulting and advisory services, Cornerstone represents a diverse group of clients from myriad industries and sectors and maintains expertise in a wide range of issue areas, including agriculture, cyber security, defense, education, energy, health, homeland security, international affairs, tax policy, telecommunications, and transportation and infrastructure. For more information, please visit Cornerstone’s website at www.cgagroup.com.
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